CCTV
That the organization which loaned money to my family was backed by the Black Sheep Salvation Church was something I'd half-suspected for a while, but I hadn't realized their zealots were personally managing things on this level.
All who wield dark energy are my followers.
They weren't some devoted apostles intimately bound to me in loyalty, though. They were more like parasites, greedily sucking away my energy to grow fat. No matter how they saw it, that's all they were to me.
In past regressions, with nowhere else to turn and no other allies who could handle me, I'd played along with them out of necessity. But now? They were just fleas clinging annoyingly to my back—nothing more, nothing less.
Above all, I knew full well that those borrowing dark energy weren't getting stronger through any normal path.
Human sacrifice.
To borrow energy from me, they offered up their fellow humans as live sacrifices.
To hide that grotesque truth, they employed the tactic of "covering great evil with petty evil."
Their funding sources and underlings, rooted across the world, expanded through human trafficking at the core, along with drug distribution and smuggling. They'd gather villain awakeners to lead the lower ranks, then coerce members through kidnapping families or addicting them to drugs—every filthy method imaginable.
Scum who rightfully paid with their lives for such depravity couldn't be allowed to loiter around my brother.
That said, wiping them out recklessly could muddy the bright future I envisioned.
I had to exterminate these fleas in a way that protected both the future and my brother.
Following the trail of dark energy Lee Man-seong had leaked led me to a massive black building squatting right on the edge of the special residential zone. Hulking thugs with mean mugs prowled the entrance, standing guard.
As I approached the building's entrance, one of them stepped up to block me.
"Hold it! Who the hell are you, coming here…."
"Hey? Ain't that the Kwon kid's little brother from earlier?!"
One recognized me, and suddenly the whole pack surged out.
"This punk thinks he can just waltz in here like he owns the place?!"
"Looks like catching a few earlier went to your head. We could gut a worm like you anytime."
One of the meatheads guarding the door patted my shoulder. I staggered back, tilting my head to smirk at them coldly.
"Bold move, huh?"
"So what…."
Jet-Black Flame Tornado
BOOM!
I blasted the guy's head open with my Jet-Black Flame Tornado skill. Grabbing his severed head, I dragged it along as I dashed inside the building.
CRASH-CRASH!
Stepping inside revealed a grand lobby greeting me with flashy opulence.
All the villain scum and organization grunts guarding the first floor and entrance swarmed in shock at my arrival.
"What the—?! Who's that guy?!"
"Intruder! Get him!"
To keep myself off Shin Yu-ra's radar even if they used dark energy inside, I needed to show them using hunter skills first—so I stuck to those outside. Places like near my house might not have fancy CCTV, but a swanky building like this near the bustling district? High chance of cameras at the entrance. Even at the ragged end of a shattered civilization, they had to protect their assets.
Even if they later discovered I'd been here, the entrance CCTV would prove I'd used hunter skills, not dark energy.
Hell, it'd even show they attacked first.
"Let's wrap this up before the meat gets cold."
Death Terraforming.
Instant Death Ability Granted — Caster: Kwon Mu-hyuk
Instant Death Target: Undesignated
PFFT!
SNIP!
A blood-red line sliced across the throats of the goons flooding into the wide lobby after me. They collapsed without a single scream.
The noisy first floor, filled with their shouts, plunged into dead silence in an instant.
And moments later…
Black smoke seeped into the fallen bodies, and one by one, they began to rise…
Soon, every organization member on the first floor stood as if nothing had happened, bowing toward me.
Those revived by dark energy returned at least 10 to 20 levels stronger than before death. Even non-awakeners awakened upon revival, often offering unwanted sacrifices in hopes of "blessings" for themselves.
Fifty or so pairs of pitch-black eyes gleamed eagerly, awaiting my command.
"Capture the guys who came to our house earlier alive. Slaughter the rest."
"As the Lord's will commands!"
With a thunderous chorus, the organization members surged up to the upper floors.
THUD-THUD-THUD!
I followed leisurely, one step at a time.
CRASH! CLANG!
"Arghhh!"
"Wh-what the hell?! Why are you—?! Gah!"
"Grahhh!"
"Crazy… Tell the boss—arghhh!"
Subordinates suddenly swarming in and butchering without mercy elicited bewildered reactions, screams, and bursting sounds echoing everywhere.
BOOM-BOOM!
By the time I'd climbed near the top of the 10-story building, the organization members—who'd been reaping bloodbaths floor by floor—finally met resistance and collapsed in a heap for the first time.
"You mad bastards! You dare stab me in the back?!"
A burly middle-aged man, face flushed red with rage, bellowed like thunder. But my undead organization members relentlessly charged to tear into him.
The man drew a longsword from his belt. Injecting it with black smoke, a blood-red aura enveloped the blade.
"Come at me, you worms."
The eerie crimson sword qi shredded the charging members, spewing red mist. Their numbers dwindled rapidly, the floor growing slick with blood and chunks of flesh, no room to step.
"Retrieve."
I extended my hand toward the middle-aged man, reclaiming the dark energy. Thick black smoke tore free from him and flowed into me.
"Urk?! Wh-what the…."
As the horrified man flailed to take it back, an organization member's blade swiftly gutted him. Blood and entrails sprayed in a fountain, leaving a gruesome corpse.
"Ugh… Why the hell…."
He collapsed, face twisted in baffled injustice.
"Sorry. Dark energy service is over."
I added the polite explanation, but he was already past hearing. Pushing open the ostentatious mahogany door—like it was the boss room—revealed Lee Man-seong trembling beside a voluptuous platinum blonde, out cold from our earlier clash.
"You're the bastard behind this mess, huh."
The woman in a short black dress, chest heaving dramatically, charged at me with terrifying speed.
She carved through blocking organization members with her kukri, closing in fast.
Priestess, huh… Who the hell appointed her? She swings her blade without even recognizing the one she serves—utterly irreverent.
"Retrieve."
Feeling the dark energy ripping from her, she spun to flee. But escape wasn't an option; the black smoke tore free relentlessly.
"N-no!"
She flailed desperately to block it, to no avail. I held the energy in my palm, gazing at her with icy eyes.
"An unqualified wretch dared to play priestess."
"Wh-what…? Ah! Aaaah! Could you be…?!!"
"Shut up and die. Meat's getting cold."
Drained of dark energy, villains weaken below even normal humans. She shattered like paper under the charging organization members—Jeong Mi-ran dead.
"Kieee!"
"H-heek!"
Lee Man-seong, who'd watched her die, collapsed trembling in place.
Soon, the earlier intruders—now captured by organization members—were dragged in with him.
"B-brother!"
"How the hell did this…."
Just moments ago, these had been their comrades—now turned killers, binding and hauling them here. Lee Man-seong and his crew were dumbfounded, gripped by terror and confusion.
"I-I surrender! Mu-hyuk, right? My mistake—"
"Hack them."
SLASH!
"Grahhh!"
An organization member lopped off his right arm. Then the left.
"Arghhh!"
"Agh!"
The rest's limbs followed, one by one.
Finally, their pale heads rolled across the floor.
"CCTV in the building?"
"First floor and this room's hallway."
"Destroy it all. And every scrap on my brother too."
"Yes, sir!"
With that, no one here would touch our house or my brother again.
Satisfied, I hurried back to my brother, who was grilling the meat.
Shin Yu-ra's Dark Detection had picked up a massive surge of dark energy there, alerting her to the large-scale internal conflict in the villain organization on the special residential zone's edge.
By the time the Special Forces team and civilian hunters arrived, all related info had been erased or altered—impossible to uncover the details.
"I've seen countless scenes, but this level of brutality and absurdity is a first."
The zone's hunter team leader shook his head in disbelief.
One day, the lower-ranking villain organization members suddenly rebelled, massacred their bosses, then surrendered en masse to the government, confessing their crimes. Who could make sense of it? He could only chuckle dryly.
The building's internal CCTVs had burned to unrecognizable ash, so Shin Yu-ra reviewed the external footage—and her eyes sharpened.
Isn't that… Kwon Mu-hyuk?
The man she'd dropped off at his house that morning was caught entering the black building. Some scuffle seemed to go down; he even used a skill to charge inside aggressively.
But soon after, organization members dragged him out, and he left alone.
The infighting erupted 10 minutes after he vanished.
Those who'd stood calmly facing forward suddenly turned blades on each other, chaos ensuing.
Dark energy had boiled inside since he entered, but it continued raging after he left—hard to pin on Kwon Mu-hyuk specifically.
Still, it's clear he's got something going on.
"Team leader, check this out."
"What is it?"
"These guys aren't just loan sharks. We found Black Sheep Salvation Church zealot badges and a priestess's writ here!"
"What?! So that's why the dark energy surged…."
Shin Yu-ra's pale face flushed slightly.
I almost suspected him again. Why do I keep doing that? Geez.
"If this is a Black Sheep underling op, we need deeper investigation. Collect evidence on illegal activities—especially human trafficking, from every angle."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Finding church evidence in a low-level front like this could help dismantle them entirely.
And someday… maybe uncover the true identity of 'Black Sheep.'
Shin Yu-ra clenched her skinny fist, face set with resolve.